AUS v IND 2018-19: MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav hand India maiden bilateral series win over Australia with 7-wicket victory at MCG

Yuzvendra Chahal was the hero with the ball, picking career best 6/42.

Yuzvendra Chahal picked career best 6/42 to rout Australia for 230 | GettyThe third ODI of the three-match series between Australia and India was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and the two teams had come into the match 1-1 in the series.

Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to chase. The Indian team management chose to make three changes to the playing XI with Kedar Jadhav replacing Rayudu, Chahal replacing Kuldeep and Vijay Shankar making his ODI debut, coming in for Siraj.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Carey for 5 and accounted for Finch for the third time in series for 14 runs and it was the same nightmare start again for Australia. Khawaja (34) and Marsh (39) added 73 runs for the third wicket, but then Chahal came in and rocked the Australian middle order to the core. He removed both the set batsman Khawaja and Marsh and then accounted for dangerman Stoinis, leaving Australia 123/5.

Mohammad Shami got Maxwell out on a short ball for 26, while Handscomb worked his way to a brilliant 58. In the end, Australia failed to play their full quota of 50 overs, being bowled out for 230 in 48.4 overs.

Chahal ended up with figures of 6/42, tying Ajit Agarkar for the best bowling figures in ODIs in Australia by an Indian bowler. Bhuvneshwar and Shami picked two wickets each.

The Indian chase began similarly to Australia’s start, as Peter Siddle had Rohit Sharma caught by Shaun Marsh in the slips for 9. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli had a brief partnership, when Dhawan’s insignificant run in the series continued, as he handed a catch back to Stoinis for 23.

Kohli was then joined by the new no.4 batsman MS Dhoni and the duo painstakingly added 54 runs 13 odd overs. Jhye Richardson proved to be the bane for Kohli, as he was caught behind for 46 runs.

Bad fielding didn’t help Australia as well, as both Kohli and Dhoni were dropped by Australian fielders twice and when no one appealed with gusto for a Dhoni inside edge.

The onus of bringing India to the win fell on MS Dhoni, who was patiently accumulating runs at the other end and brought up his third consecutive fifty of the series and with Kedar Jadhav, set India on the path to victory.

Jhye Richardson was the pick of Australian bowlers as he returned the figures of 1/27 in his 10 overs.

Jadhav played the aggressor in the partnership and took calculated risks to keep the score moving and Dhoni kept one end secured and the duo ran amazingly well, putting pressure on the fielders and stealing twos.

By the time, the final few overs rolled in, Dhoni-Jadhav duo had added an unbeaten 121 runs for the fourth wicket to hand India a 7-wicket win at the MCG.

MS Dhoni remained unbeaten on 87 off 114 balls with 6 fours and Jadhav hit the winning runs to remain unbeaten on 61 off 57 balls with 7 fours.

With this win, Team India won the 3-match ODI series 2-1 and registered their maiden bilateral ODI series win on Australian soil.

India remained unbeaten in all the three series, tying the T20I series 1-1, winning the Test series 2-1 and now an ODI series win capped off a historically important tour for the visitors.

BRIEF SCORES:
AUS 230 (P HANDSCOMB 58; Y CHAHAL 6/42) lost to IND 234/3 (MS DHONI 87*; K JADHAV 61*) by 7 wickets
India wins the 3-match ODI series 2-1

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 18 Jan, 2019

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